Truman Sea Trials `Went Fantastic'

The carrier returned to the yard late Wednesday after three days of acceptance sea trials. The ship and its 2,385 crewmen had been at sea with Capt. Thomas Otterbein at the helm since Tuesday morning.

The trials included tests for seaworthiness and of ship systems such as defense weaponry and sensors, propulsion and navigation.

"The trials went fantastic," said Truman spokesman Lt. Scott Allen. "Of course, they're going to find things that need to be corrected; that's kind of the point. We knew there would be some problems going out, some areas that are still under construction."

Scott said he did not know of any particular problems with the nuclear-powered flattop.

"I'm not sure there were any," yard spokeswoman Jerri Fuller Dickseski said. "From what I heard, everything overall went very well."

The Navy's Board of Inspection and Survey will name whatever problems it may have discovered during the trials at the approval briefing, which is not open to the public.

After the ship underwent its first series of sea trials earlier this month, Otterbein said there were zero discrepancies.

If the inspection board deems the ship fleet-worthy, the Truman will be delivered to the Navy June 30, Scott said, and after an overnight cruise, it will pull into Norfolk Naval Base July 2.

The yard laid the keel for the Truman, the Navy's eighth Nimitz-class carrier, on Nov. 29, 1993. The ship, christened Sept. 7, 1996, is scheduled to be commissioned in Norfolk July 25.

The crew moved aboard in January.

"The skipper's extremely confident the crew is ready to go to sea," Allen said.

- Dennis O'Brien can be reached at 247-4791 or by e-mail at dobrien@dailypress.com